Cardiorespiratory mechanisms triggered during music perception in preterm infants and adults

Laura Lavezzo; Francisca Barcos-Munoz; Damien Benis; Juliette Margaria; Didier Grandjean; Enzo Pasquale Scilingo; Andreas Vollenweider; Stéphane Henriot; Mimma Nardelli; Petra Hüppi; Manuela Filippa

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2025.113524

Cardiorespiratory mechanisms triggered during music perception in preterm infants and adults

iScience. 2025 Sep 11;28(10):113524. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.113524. eCollection 2025 Oct 17.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Division of Development and Growth, Child and Adolescent Department, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Bioengineering and Robotics Research Centre E. Piaggio and Department of Information Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy.
³ Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.

Abstract

Preterm newborns' autonomic response to dynamic auditory stimuli is poorly understood. To examine how cardiac and respiratory systems adjust their rhythms in response to music, we assessed 18 preterm infants (gestational age 37.73 ± 0.80 weeks) and 19 adults across music listening. Heart rate dynamics, respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), and cardiorespiratory coupling were analyzed. Studying the power spectral density of the interpolated interbeat interval series, both groups showed decreased high-frequency power during music listening. In preterm infants, RSA increased (p = 0.005), possibly suggesting a state of calm alertness, where the infant is physiologically prepared for interaction with environmental stimuli, while adults had decreased RSA (p = 0.003) and concomitant increased values of the low-frequency/high-frequency power ratio, possibly reflecting heightened alertness. While frequency domain cardiovascular responses to music were similar between preterms and adults, only the investigation of RSA and cardiorespiratory coupling measures revealed the delicate balance of autonomic dynamics in preterm newborns.

Keywords: Developmental biology; Neuroscience; Physiology.